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- Title
Palaeo-modeling of coastal salt water intrusion during the Holocene: an application to the Netherlands.
- Authors
Delsman, J. R.; Hu-a.-ng, K. R. M.; Vos, P. C.; de Louw, P. G. B.; Essink, G. H. P. Oude; Stuyfzand, P. J.; Bierkens, M. F. P.
- Abstract
Management of coastal fresh groundwater reserves requires a thorough understanding of the present-day groundwater salinity distribution and its possible future development. However, coastal groundwater often still reflects a complex history of marine transgressions and regressions, and is only rarely in equilibrium with current boundary conditions. In addition, the distribution of groundwater salinity is virtually impossible to characterize satisfactorily, complicating efforts to model and predict coastal groundwater flow. A way forward may be to account for the historical development of groundwater salinity when modeling present-day coastal groundwater flow. In this paper, we construct a palaeo-hydrogeological model to simulate the evolution of ground-water salinity in the coastal area of the Netherlands throughout the Holocene. While intended as a perceptual tool, confidence in our model results is warranted by a good correspondence with a hydrochemical characterization of groundwater origin. Model results attest to the impact of groundwater density differences on coastal groundwater flow on millennial timescales and highlight their importance in shaping today's groundwater salinity distribution. Not once reaching steady-state throughout the Holocene, our results demonstrate the long-term dynamics of salinity in coastal aquifers. This stresses the importance of accounting for the historical evolution of coastal groundwater salinity when modeling present-day coastal groundwater flow, or when predicting impacts of e.g. sea level rise on coastal aquifers. Of more local importance, our findings suggest a more significant role of pre-Holocene groundwater in the present-day groundwater salinity distribution in the Netherlands than previously recognized. The implications of our results extend beyond understanding the present-day distribution of salinity, as the proven complex history of coastal groundwater also holds important clues for understanding and predicting the distribution of other societally relevant groundwater constituents.
- Subjects
NETHERLANDS; HOLOCENE paleohydrology; IGNEOUS intrusions; GROUNDWATER; SALTWATER encroachment; EQUILIBRIUM; HYDRODYNAMICS; BIOGEOGRAPHY
- Publication
Hydrology & Earth System Sciences Discussions, 2013, Vol 10, Issue 11, p13707
- ISSN
1812-2108
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5194/hessd-10-13707-2013